The Ride Back
by humhallelujah
Summary: Artemis regains his memories. An enraged Council sends Holly and Root to abduct and remindwipe him, and the ride back is filled with silence and glares. One-chapter. I don't own Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer does.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl or any supporting characters, Eoin Colfer does.**

**This short story takes place after the Eternity Code, I just had the idea today while sick with a sore throat and typed it up real quick. Ok, not real quick, this took me a whole day. I like the Opal Deception, just didn't think it would fit with Root dead (sob) and Holly not working for the LEP. It may start out to be a little slow, just warning you. I posted this in one long chapter because I didn't want to post one chapter, someone flame me, and I lose hope and stop posting. It's happened before. Plus, I thought that if I put the story into chapters, the chapters would be too short. The title doesn't kick in until about 3/4 done with the story, just telling you. I wasn't sure what to rate it, so I just rated it K+. There isn't really that much in it, is there? I just wanted to be safe, though.**

**Summary: Mulch finally gets the medallion back to Artemis, and with Foaly monitoring Fowl Manor daily, it doesn't take long for him to figure out that Artemis has regained his memories. An enraged Council wants him mindwiped _again_, with all of the other incidents involving Fowl- they might be right to suspect him. And over the months Holly has convinced herself that Artemis hasn't and won't change.. he'll always be the emotionless slightly evil Mud Boy that kidnapped her. They could have never been friends, and that way Holly doesn't have to feel guilty of mindwiping him the first time. But Artemis has changed, and he realizes this after remembering. When Holly and Root come to his home to simply abduct him for a few hours, the ride back is filled with silence and glares. But though he won't let anyone onto it, Artemis feels hurt by Holly's obvious shunning and distrust.**

**The Ride Back **_by avovisto_

Mulch Diggums skipped up the pavement steps to a certain Fowl Manor, a gold disk clutched in his hand and a grin on his face. He couldn't wait to see the look on Artemis's pale face when he regained his memories. Perhaps he would feel thankful and share some of the goodies in his refrigerator... the grin spread wider, impossible as it seemed.

The ex-convict had combed his hair especially for this event, and was wearing a stolen suit (he had to refrain himself from getting dirty ALL day to keep it neat) and an eye-thing he had seen another important man wear on one of his last.. ah... missions.

He almost tripped in his enthusiasm as he scampered up the stairs, and as he (finally) reached the doors he looked for a doorbell. His grin was quickly replaced by a scowl as he looked up- and saw the doorbell more than a foot above his head. His arm wasn't _that _long. After a few jumps, he managed to get a finger against the small round button.

A rumbling noise reached Mulch's ears, and he knew instantly that Butler was coming to answer the door. He puffed out his chest and tried to look buisness-like. A lot of his time in the past six months had been planning for this day.. a skill which he was not very good at. The rest was spent pickpocketing random people, robbing banks and occasionally stealing an engagement ring or two. All under heavy disguises, of course. He wouldn't want Julius to have a reason to put him back in jail.

_Remember the plan, Remember the plan, STICK TO THE PLAN! _cried the dwarf's brain as the door open widely to reveal a monstrous Mud Man. He looked very proffesional and old, but still looked somewhat happy, if maybe a little bored.

"I think you have the wrong house, mister." said Butler in his deep voice. Mulch made an effort to sound wise. "Oh no, this is Fowl Manor, I believe? I.. I have an appointment with Mr. Fowl the Second." The hesitation wasn't much, but Butler took it as proof of a lie. "I believe you don't, if you will pardon me. Now if you would just leave...?" Mulch frowned. He must have messed up somewhere. "Can I at least drop a package off? Mr. Fowl said that I was to return this to him. It's his, by the way." The manservant still looked skeptical, and his giant frame was blocking the way in. "Fine then, but I will have to check it out first. Now leave." Mulch attempted to smile. "Sure then, big fellow. Here you go." He handed the medallion to Butler and hoped that it got to Artemis, while he walked down the polished steps out of the Fowl's garden.

Now he really was stuck. Maybe Artemis would get in touch with him- he had left his new cell phone number hidden in the medallion. Until then, all he could do was go back home and get the ridiculous suit off. Since he didn't need the suit anymore, he could just tunnel back. There went six months of planning, down the drain.

Butler returned inside the house with the gold medallion. What a strange little guy that had been. His accent didn't even sound educated, and his beard hair was so thick, Butler thought a small animal could live in it. He was also a really bad lier, and he stunk, though the butler had been polite enough not to point this out.

He studied the medallion closer. As he ran his fingers over it, he realized that it wasn't gold after all. Not solid anyway, just painted with gold leaf. Butler scratched the paint off and saw a small disk, miniaturized but small enough to fit into a computer disk drive. The disk was immediatley rushed into a computer, where the manservant sat to examine it for traps. The disk was loading its contents. Quite a bit of contents, judging from the time it was taking.

"Hey brother, do you want to go see this new wrestler's match? They've got a few discounted tickets on eBay and..." Juliet bounced into the room, stopping when she saw Butler on his computer. "What are you doing?" she asked him, a curious expression on her face after seeing the scratched paint on the floor and the remains of the string that made the disk a necklace.

"Just checking this package for Artemis out. A short little guy dropped it off a couple of minutes ago. It's a disk, but he obviously tried to hide it with gold leaf paint."

"Ah. What's this note on the floor?" She picked up a small piece of paper on the floor scrunched up into a ball. It must have fallen off with the remnants of the medallion. When she opened it up, it had the name Mulch Diggums on it, and a few numbers, most likely a phone number. She showed it to Butler, who just shrugged it off. "It must be just a side note or something. I'll give it to Artemis once I'm done checking the disk."

And then the disk was done loading.

Butler and Juliet turned back to the computer screen simultaneously, hearing the unmistakable 'Done Loading!' cheerful computer guide's voice. And then it asked for a password. Butler thought back to the little guy's words. If this really was Artemis's disk, then it would have Artemis's password. If not, then he would get rid of it. _Aurum es potestas._ Gold is power.. and the Fowl's had a lot of gold.

The folder opened with a cartoon computer spewing a message at them. '_password correct'_ . Butler quickly scanned the contents, and halted immediatley when he saw his name on its own sub-folder. Tentatively, he opened it.The first file that caught his eye was bolded, in italics, and underlined. It said: **_READ ME FIRST_**. He obliged, and opened the file to a video, of Artemis himself.

_"Hello, Butler. If you are watching this, then our good friend Mister Diggums has come through."_

Both Juliet and Butler were confused. "Uh.. who's Mister Diggums? Is he the guy that sent the disk?" inquired Juliet. This had to be the weirdest day in a while. Why would Artemis send a video of himself.. to himself? It made no sense.

Slowly, Butler answered. "I guess it is.. that's what it says on the paper, anyway." The virtual Artemis continued to talk without a pause. The Butlers knew better to interrupt the Principal, even if it was a virtual one, so they stayed quiet, though getting more and more confused. This Artemis was rambling off words they had never heard of. About another species, living below the lithosphere.

Then, it all clicked. Mulch, Holly, Commander Root, Foaly, Opal Koboi, Spiro, Artic, LEPrecon.. the puzzle pieces were slowly falling into place. Butler now understood why he felt so old, and he remembered buying the contact lenses. Juliet remembered everything also, including when Holly _mesmerized_ her and left her watching a television that wasn't there. _I still owe her a good punch for that..._ she thought, paralyzed.

But rememberance came with a price. Spasms of pain racked the Butler sibling's heads, as memory by memory revealed itself for their brains to analyze. Juliet shrieked, and Butler held his head in his hands and bit his lip.

Flashes and words came at once, and made a brilliant flash of white light appear before their eyes every few seconds. The words sounded jumbled up, and they were loud. Juliet felt like she was in a wrestling match and had just won, and Butler rather felt like a gun had been shot next to his ear.

With the memories came feelings of friendship and respect as well as other things, and Butler realized that he had been a tad rude to Mulch when sending him away. When the pain stopped, he ran to the nearest window to see if his old friend was still there. He wasn't, so the manservant returned to his seat and turned to see how Juliet fared.

His younger sister looked better then she had in a long time. She grinned at Butler happily. "You know, now my life seems so much more complete. Do you want me to take that to Artemis?" she practically chirped, pointing at the disk in the computer.

Butler stared at her for a moment, and then took the disk out of the drive. He handed it to her, with the paper that had Mulch's phone number on it. "Take this to him too, he might want to call Mulch after."

Juliet bobbed her head up and down once, then jogged up the stairs, eager to see Artemis remember just like she did.

Downstairs, her older brother lay back in his chair and started recounting the memories he had, making sure there were no more mysteries.

Upstairs, a while before.. Artemis Fowl the Second was pacing his room.. for no particular reason. Lately, he had felt like something was wrong. Something that he couldn't place his finger on. Dark blue eyes were blazing with something unrecognisable, most likely frustration, and his black hair was unruly from scratching his head and running his hands through it many times that day.

Lately, things had seemed so... _boring_. He had many good leads on opportuntities to make himself richer, and had taken them all. But they had all been so easy, and many many times had Artemis found himself with nothing to do. He hated summer. No teachers to drive up the wall, and Angeline and Fowl Sr. had left on a vacation to Jamaica after Artemis flatly refused to go, saying that he had much better things to do, and he'd be safe with Butler.

He had taken to bankrupting companies he didn't like, and his temper had risen considerably. Everyone (save the Butlers and his parents) steered clear of him now, and he found himself for once in his life, rather lonely. Every day was the same, he wanted something new to do.

But the 'much better things' to do quickly ran out, and Artemis began to feel like his life was stretched out in front of him, going slower and slower. He most likely would have broken already, had Butler and Juliet not have been there to find things to do when he felt like doing something drastic.

Now it seemed as if the puzzle pieces of his life had been tampered with, and he wanted to know why. He couldn't have known that he would have figured out that very day.

The answers sometimes came to him quickly as he paced and thought, but they disappeared just as fast. This only tempted him more, as a challenge was something Artemis Fowl couldn't resist, and this was more or less a challenge.

He felt like he was fighting a battle with his own brain, which was trying to keep his own secrets from him. Fighting a losing battle.

Then, Juliet burst into his room, a smile on her face. "Arty! There's something for you to look at!"

Artemis did not feel like dealing with buisness. "Juliet, now is not the time." Why did he let her call him 'Arty' again?

Juliet's face turned serious. "I really recommend that you look at this disk now, Arty." She really wanted to see him when he remembered.. would he have a plan? Would he want to get revenge for them mind-wiping him? This was a big chance to learn more about Artemis, you don't get those very often.

He turned around and took the disk from Juliet, sighing and examining the disk while he walked to his computer. "Butler checked it, didn't he?" he asked, not taking his eyes off it. He placed it in his drive and waited for it to load.

"Of course he did, silly, do you think he would just send it up with me without checking it?" Juliet said, getting annoyed. The disk had to take so long!

When it finally loaded and asked for the password, Artemis looked at her expectantly. "Well, what's the password?"

"I don't know! It's your disk, you should know!"

"What do you mean, it's my disk?"

"Just type in what you would put as your password."

Artemis typed in the obvious answer: _Aurum es potestas. _To his surprise, it worked. He opened the sub-folder with his name on it. This was getting more interesting by the second. He then clicked on the file that said **_READ ME FIRST_**, as you were obviously supposed to read it first.

It was him. On a video. Artemis was speechless. He couldn't remember filming this!

"_Greetings, How nice for you to see me. Doubtless, this will be the first intelligent conversation you have had for some time."_

The virtual Artemis paused. The real Artemis was getting excited. This was obviously him, and could possibly fill in all the answers to the questions he had for the past six months.

Eagerly, he leaned in, ready for the virtual Artemis to speak again. He did.

A couple minutes later. Artemis's face was paler then it already was, and he was leaning on to Juliet for support. _He took it well, compared to us._ she thought, _Oh well.. this is Artemis, of course he must have already suspected something!_

Moments later, Artemis sat straight up and straightened his suit. Juliet waited expectantly. At first, he didn't notice, but then it became too obvious to ignore. He looked at her, no emotions shown on his stoic face.

"Would you like something, Juliet?"

Juliet stood there for a moment, but then blushed as she realized Artemis wasn't going to tell her his thoughts, and reluctantly left the room.

Artemis now had something to think about. Something to do. He couldn't believe it. All these hours he was pondering this, meditating on it, and Juliet comes in with a disk and all is revealed. But the question now was.. what to do next?

Captain Holly Short walked slowly to her office in the LEPrecon building. For once she was really early, and she wanted to savor it. It was too good to be true.

She held her breath as she passed the Commander's office, and waited to see if sound would come out.

"Morning, Captain. Glad to see you're early." said Commander Root, not even looking up from his papers.

This just made Holly happier.. and she responded with a bubbly "Morning to you too!". She was in such a good mood, she said hi to Chix who grinned at her, and decided to make a stop at Foaly's OP booth, since she was _so_ early.

Which, unfortunatley, ruined her day.

When Holly entered the room, she saw Foaly hunched over his computer desk frowning, watching some videos on his computer over and over again.

They were of Fowl Manor. Holly should have ran out of the room and continued her good day.

Instead, she skipped over to Foaly in her curiousity and greeted him. "Hey Foaly, whatcha watching?"

Foaly looked up from his work to smile at her. "Boy, Holly, you're here _this_ early? No wonder you're in a good mood." But then the smile disappeared as he looked back down at his computer. "When I got in this morning I checked on Fowl, like I do weekly. And I don't really believe it... well actually I think that..." He paused, reluctant to ruin Holly's happiness.

Holly tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Think that what?"

Foaly sighed, knowing that Holly would badger him until she found out. "Look at this." He pointed at the screen.

The video showed Butler and Juliet squirming around, obviously in pain.

Holly wanted to turn away. "You wanted to know, keep watching." Foaly firmly insisted, still pointing at the screen.

A minute or so later, they stopped squirming. Juliet looked estactic, and Butler's face was blank. He instructed Juliet to do something, and handed Juliet a disk and a piece of paper.

Foaly paused it. "If this isn't suspicious enough, look at this." He zoomed in on the piece of paper.

Holly gasped and her mind reeled. So much for a good day.

The paper read Mulch Diggums.

"I think the Butler's have regained their memories. And if they have, by now Fowl has also." Foaly said, his voice was impossible to read for once.

It was at that precise moment, rather ironically, where Commander Root chose to burst in the room to check on Foaly. He saw Holly's stunned face and Foaly's grave one, and immediatley shouted,

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" to Foaly.

The centaur in question gulped and led the commander to the computer, bracing himself for any future blowouts.

While Root was watching the video, Holly's mind was so stressed, it could only bear one thought.

_The Mud Boy is back.._

In the six months that Artemis didn't remember anything, Holly had been rather bored. But she couldn't help feeling guilty about the mind wipe, and Holly hated feeling guilty. So slowly but surely, she convinced herself that Fowl was a Mud Boy. He didn't change. Memories or not, he would still be the same person who kidnapped her a couple years ago. Holly led herself to believe this until she actually did.

Root puffed on his cigar harder, like a shaken soda bottle ready to blow. Holly could just see his head expanding.

"I have to tell the Council, you know." he finally said, slightly calming down. Slightly.

Foaly was in distress. "WHAT! Tell them and they'll think my mind wipe was ineffective!"

"But they can't fire you, Foaly, you know that." pointed out Holly. She was calm. A little angry at no one in particular, but calm.

"I know _that_, but my reputation will be ruined!" he cried out.

Root resumed his rapid puffing. "You're too paranoid, do you know that, centaur? I have to tell the Council, because if I don't and they find out, it'll be Captain Short's and my jobs! And I am not risking it to go up there WITHOUT their permission and talk to Fowl."

Foaly sighed. He was defeated. "Fine, go. But I will blame it on you if--" He was cut short in his words by Root barking at him, once again.

Holly left the room quietly. Maybe if she wasn't noticed, she could stay out of this whole mess.

**The same day, evening**

Holly imagined she must look like Root. She was literally fuming at the mouth, since her anger couldn't escape her in words, it had to some other way.

Earlier that day Root had confessed to the Council Foaly's discovery. They were somewhat happy that he had told them right away, but furious that Fowl had regained his memories. They demanded that the best officers to handle the situation go up to Fowl Manor, simply abduct Fowl and his accomplices for a couple of hours, and mind wipe them again. They would check the manor and mesmerize the Mud People twice as may times as last time, just to be sure, even though Artemis and Co. wouldn't (or shouldn't) have any knowledge of the officers coming to get them.

So, obviously the best officers to handle the situation -- any situation having to do with Artemis Fowl -- were none other than Holly and Root.

And those two officers had to go up in the middle of the night to get Fowl. Joy.

Now she was getting ready to go to the surface. That boy better not try anything strange, because whatever happens, Holly knew that on the inside, Artemis hadn't changed a bit.

Artemis couldn't believe how much he had changed. He donated ninety percent of the money he stole from Spiro! Ninety! He had felt guilt. He, Artemis Fowl, had felt shame for kidnapping Holly, had felt pain from being punched, and had _cried_ in front of another living being that wasn't Butler.

Maybe he should go straight. Things were bound to get more interesting now. He wondered how long until the faires found out that he regained his memories. Probably not too long, if Foaly had cameras installed in the manor. It had already been a day since he gained his memories back, and he had locked himself in his room to think.

Then what would the LEP do? Most likely come back and try to mind-wipe him again. Then what could he do? He fingered the paper with Mulch's phone number. Nothing, for now. He dialed the number.

The phone rang a few times, before Mulch picked up.

"Helloo?"

"Mulch, this is Artemis."

"Aha! So Butler gave you the disk?" The dwarf's voice sound muffled, as if he was chewing something.

"Yes... are you eating something"?

"I'm underground right now.. anyway when do I start?" At first, Artemis didn't understand. Then he remembered.

_Together, we will be unstoppable._

What if he did go straight? Mulch's only interest would be crime and money. What could he say to him that wouldn't hurt the dwarf's feelings too much? Since when did Artemis care about another person's feelings? He only said the first thing his enormous intelligence could think of.

Artemis kept his cold, still voice as he talked into the phone. "I don't really know. I have things I need to think about. Just keep on your toes while I mull things over."

Mulch was silent at first. "What do you need to think over? Haven't you already had enough time to think about everything?" he finally said. He had obviously stopped tunneling to talk to Artemis.

"I just got three years of memories back. I need more time to process all of the feelings and images I have recently gained. Now I have to leave, Mulch, you have my home phone now. Keep in touch." And then he hung up. What a good liar he was. Of course he had already thought things over. He was a genius, after all. He had only used that excuse so he could delay telling Mulch that he might just go straight.

Artemis sighed as he placed the phone back in its charger. That was the longest phone call he had in a while. He wondered, once again, what he should do.

He didn't have to wonder any longer.

Holly and the Commander were at Fowl Manor. They had bypassed the security and now were right outside Artemis's room. Their plan was to get him first, then use him to get Bulter and Juliet to come quietly.

The time had come. Root signaled Holly to get into position. Root hid to the side with the weapons, where Artemis couldn't see him. Then Holly tapped on the window lightly. The Mud Boy didn't notice. She tried tapping harder, but it didn't work. In her frustration, she made things easy. She broke the window.

Root sighed. This was Holly, always ending up to make a scandel. Now he had to go on with the plan

"Freeze, mud boy. Invite us in!" He shouted, pointing his Neutrino at the boy's head.

Artemis was surprised. They must really have been watching him on camera. He lifted his arms in the air, an impassive look on his face. "Do I really have a choice? You may come in. May I ask what you want now? You will have to pay for that window, you know." He pointed at the glass shards shattered across his perfect room. He didn't really need to ask about what they wanted- he already knew. They entered the house warily. That was easier then they suspected.

Root scowled. No doubt the boy knew about their plan. How dare he suggest they pay for the window, though he knew that he would be returning with no memory? He couldn't believe he was seeing Fowl once again.

Holly could barely breathe. The last time she saw this boy, he had been unconscious. Peaceful. Now he was six months older, and still evil. He was still evil. She just had to remember that and it would be so much easier to take him hostage and mind-wipe him. Again.

She walked (rather slowly) to Artemis's back and handcuffed him. He snorted. "Am I being taken to jail?" She wanted to ignore him, but she couldn't. "You know perfectly well where you are being taken, Fowl." she said with scorn in her voice. Once again, Artemis was surprised. He thought they had parted as friends. More like enemies, by the tone in her voice.

Root suddenly interrupted by pointing to the door. "We're just doing this to insure Butler and his sister come quietly. Come on." They went down the stairs to the living room, where the Butlers were eating dinner. The elder sibling's first response was to pull out a heavy gun, pointing it at the intruders. Juliet's was the same.

Then they recognised the faeries. Their faces were simultaneously covered with bewilderment and anger. "What is going on here?" asked Butler, never taking his eyes off Root's gun. The commander answered quickly. "We're just doing this so you will agree to come quietly and unarmed. We are on orders by the Council to re-mind-wipe you. If you agree, this will be quick, effective and harmless. We are not trying to be hostile, but our orders are to act unbiased." He felt proud. When was the last time he had been that proffessional on a mission?

Butler looked at Artemis, who just gave him a look that said 'We have no choice.' Sighing, he placed down his gun and proceeded to unarm himself. Juliet followed suit.

Once they were done, Holly cleared her throat to gain attention. "Ok, now we need to get to our transport. Where's your back door?" They would go in their shuttle (high altitude of course, they wouldn't want a Mud Child thinking they saw UFO's) to the nearest chutes back to Haven, where the mind-wipe would be given.

Once they were in the ship, Holly automatically got in the driver's seat. Artemis, feeling awkward, just sat in the nearest passenger's seat to her, hoping to perhaps talk. Root and Butler took seats in the middle-back area, talking about different war techniques. Juliet sat by Artemis, determined to prove herself as a bodyguard.

Holly was getting exasperated. Why did the Mud Boy have to sit so close to her? Now if she tried to look in her mirror, she would see his piercing blue eyes. The ones that could see almost everything. The evil ones... right? She didn't want to look to find out.

At first, the only sound in the ship was Butler and Root chattering in the background. Holly had slightly calmed down, and Juliet was fidgeting in her seat, making Artemis uncomfortable. How long would this take?

Juliet was fidgeting because... well, for once she didn't know what to do. She could hear snippets of Root and her older brother's conversation, and it sounded interesting. She really wanted to go join them. Holly wasn't a danger to Artemis. She _was_ driving the plane, it's not like she could do anything. Juliet made up her mind. She patted Artemis on the back, and whispered, "Bye Arty, I'm going to join the men, kay?" He nodded shortly. She sauntered over to their conversation happily, and was eagerly accepted into the debate of the advantages and disadvantages of stunning guns.

Holly felt like scowling. Now it was just her and the Mud Boy. She wondered who would talk first.

Artemis was currently composing a list of things to say to her. What he really wanted was to ask her about how she had treated him- like they were opposed. Technically they were, but what about all the times they had spent together? Going on all three of those adventures, they had to get somewhere in their relationship! As for the mind wipe, Artemis was sure that Mulch would do something. He trusted the little dwarf, and knew that it couldn't be that long until he figured out something was wrong.

Back to what he was thinking about before. Oh yes, Holly. Why was she acting so hostile? Perhaps if he talked to her, he could figure it out. He was an expert at psycology, so what could go wrong? He searched his mind for something good to say. Ah, perfect. Holly was obviously distressed over something.

"Is something wrong?" He broke the silence.

Holly stiffened upon hearing his voice. She bet his eyes were staring into her back right that second. Forcing herself to relax, she answered cautiously. "No, nothing's wrong."

Artemis raised an eyebrow. Typical answer, she should know that now he would keep on prying. "Really?"

She tried to say yes, but instead, her tongue slipped. "No." She struggled with the controls, trying to hide her mistake.

The other thin eyebrow went up. The not-so-childish prodigy crossed his arms and leaned back, playing every part the curious teenager. "Aren't you going to tell me?" Oops. Wrong thing to say. In Artemis's mind, conversation was like chess. Move a piece up, and if you don't notice the other piece waiting in the shadows. Then it's too late, and the piece is gone, ruining your plans.

Holly's immediate answer was "No. And I'm not ever going to tell you, either. So you can just shut your mouth and leave me alone." Maybe she should have just left it at 'no'..

The boy behind her stared for a minute. The piece is gone.. unless the other player makes a dum-dum. Now he had a retort. "Touchy, aren't we? Did you really think I was going to join the others talking about random weapons? I don't have anything else to do than talk to you." Random. Now there was a word he hadn't used in a while.

Holly had no answer.

Artemis waited a little bit for a response, then went on. "Aren't you going to answer me?" he smirked, with a touch of sarcasm to the edge of his voice.

The elf's patience had been pushed to the limits. He really was evil. _But then why was he asking you if anything was wrong?_ Her conscious argued with her, like it had almost every day for a whole month after the first mind-wipe. He's a genius, she argued back. Of course he wants to know everything! _Everything.. about you? Why you?_ Again, Holly had no answer. So she turned her fury on the nearest outlet: the Mud Boy.

"Listen, Fowl, this whole thing is YOUR fault!" the faerie hissed. "It's not MY fault I had to waste my time coming out here and getting you to be mind-wiped AGAIN!"

Artemis was insulted. HIS fault? "If I recall correctly, it was your Council that wanted to tamper with my memories again, and you all were the ones who resumed contact after I let you go."

"But YOU were the one who called us about Butler, and you kidnapped me in the first place!"

"And Butler got shot because Spiro wanted what I did with the fairy technology! And you can't expect me to leave advanced technology leaving around the house, can you? I am a genius, you know!"

_Yea, I know.. _Holly thought bitterly. "Well.. YOU kidnapped me in the first place!" she ended lamely, not knowing any other retort.

Silence took over. Neither side knew what to say.

It was like this for a while, with Holly throwing Artemis the occasional glare through her window, being careful to look anywhere but his eyes. If she looked into his eyes, she would know if he really had changed or not. And she was rather afraid of the former, because if he had changed, it would make it harder to mind wipe him again. Holly hated emotions that stayed around, clawing at you from the inside, because you can't really get rid of them. Guilt was one of those emotions.

Artemis was actually troubled by Holly's glares and anger. What had he ever done? Ok, fine, he was actually a little hurt. But noone was to know that. Words could never hurt Artemis Fowl the Second. He sat up straight, and tried to think of two things at once: What to say next to Holly, and what could be bothering her. He mulled over her words, uncertain of what to say. After a couple minutes of thinking, he realized that Holly's anger had to have something to do with him. It was obvious. Then came the hard part- talking to her about it.

"So, what did I do?" he asked quietly, half faking, half really being the hurt Mud Boy.

Holly jumped out of her seat, shaking the controls and in turn the ship, earning a few shouts from the back. Oopsies. She tried to formulate an answer in her head, but gave up and decided to riskily let her mouth lead her.

"Um..." She sucked at this.

"Ah, so it is about me, isn't it?"

"Er.." She imagined how dumb she sounded. Pretty dumb, by the look on Artemis's face.

Suddenly, Artemis's brain reached a conclusion. Psycology never failed. "Does it have to do with my last mind-wipe?"

_Perhaps... YES!_ her conscious answered automatically. "D'arvit!" she whispered. Why did he have to be so smart? If she talked, he would most likely find her out because of her big mouth. If she stayed quiet, he would definetly find her out. Silence speaks louder than words. She decided to go with most likely, instead of definetly.

"Yes." There. She said it. Maybe now he would leave her alone.

"Oh. I see.." was his only answer. Now he understood the whole thing. She didn't want to feel guilt, so she told herself lies. Like most humans, actually.

"I suppose you understand now..." Holly muttered, trying to concentrate on the flying. Artemis nodded curtly, then became transfixed in staring at something. She turned her head back to the front. This whole conversation wouldn't matter anyway, because he would be mind-wiped anyway. And the talk didn't change anything. He was still, like always, evil.

Then she made a mistake. A big mistake.

She looked into the mirror. Behind her she saw Artemis's blue eyes, his piercing blue eyes. The eyes that portrayed no evil, just sincerity and cleverness. The eyes that were somewhat warm, and so different then the eyes the twelve-year old had showed a year and a half ago. The eyes that weren't icy.. the eyes that had thawed. He had changed. She couldn't ignore it. And with that discovery, the guilt returned. She had lied to herself. For six whole months. She had to turn away from the mirror stiffly, feeling Fowl's eyes still on her, watching her, studying her. Why?

_Because he cared for her. Because they were friends._

She couldn't believe it. He had changed. She was wrong. The world swayed for a moment around her, and she quickly had to regain control of the shuttle. The pilot couldn't faint.

The captain said nothing for the rest of the entire trip, and Artemis could only watch her, wondering what she had thought when she looked into his eyes.

And then, as quickly as that, the trip was over. Artemis was locked up in a room. Alone. Without either Butler. What was he supposed to do now, just wait until the faeries had decided to mind-wipe him for the second time? Of course not. He started looking around his almost-empty room for something to use to escape...

Holly stepped into Foaly's room, dazed and unnoticed. "Foaly... I need to talk to you." He frowned. Holly never got this shook up. "Yes, what is it?"

"Foaly.. what do you think about the whole mind-wipe-Fowl-a-second-time thing?"

"Well, I think that Fowl has changed, and that the mind wiping thing isn't that much of a good idea. Besides, It would be nice to have someone close to my intellect to discuss things with sometimes." Foaly looked at her inquisitively, wanting to know why she asked him.

Holly hesitated before continuing. Then she tried to hurry and get the talking part over with. "I.. felt guilty about wiping Fowl the first time. So I...told myself that he hadn't changed. That he was evil. That way, I wouldn't have to feel the guilt. Now.." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Now I realize that he is my friend, and he isn't evil, and he has changed. Foaly... I _really _don't think this is a good idea, and I know that Artemis and Butler and Juliet alone won't be able to escape. I.. I want to help them escape, and I need your help." She looked up at him with pleading eyes, every part the emotional elf.

Foaly was stunned. He hadn't seen Holly like this in so long. Almost never. Should he help her? He could, easily, and it would work without a hitch. He could simply play an easy loop on the cameras and Holly could sneak by and release Fowl and the Butlers. It would look like Fowl had messed with the cameras and performed an ingenious escape. Then he could send the old scrap elevator up which he would be controlling from his OP booth, and say that the Butlers and Fowl hijacked it. Then Holly could go up in her new larger vehicle trying to catch Fowl, while he and the Butlers would be with her. It would be simple. Complex, but for him, simple. He took a deep breath.

"Ok, but you have to follow my plan. It'll only work if you do the exact directions."

"What's your plan?"

Holly ran down the hall in her LEP uniform. First, was Juliet. Foaly had the loops rolling, which Holly didn't really understand. He was the one watching the cameras, why were the loops needed? Perhaps so later they wouldn't be able to blame him for anything. Duh. Why hadn't she thought of that before?

She opened the door to Juliet's room. There she was, pacing the room. "Juliet!" she said. "Get over here, we're escaping, NOW!"

Juliet turned around, and there was a flicker of uncertainity in her voice. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because you know that you could incapitate me if I ever tried to betray you!"

"Good point. We going to get Butler and Artemis now?"

"Of course. Let's go."

Holly and Juliet quickly scampered down the hallway to Butler's room. They were evenly matched in speed, but Juliet's anxiety for her brother came in first. She burst in the room. Butler immediatley stood up from the chair which he was resting in. "What's going on? Where's Artemis?"

Holly sighed. "We're going to get him right now."

While they were all dashing down to Artemis's room, Butler was looking at her strangly.

He asked, "Why are you doing this?"

She had no good answer. "Because I don't think it's right. He's changed. He'll be no threat."

Butler nodded somewhat approvingly and turned forward, his eyes scanning the wall panels.

Finally, they reached Artemis's room. The said genius was looking at some random things scattered around the room. He looked up as they entered the room.

"I could have escaped on my own, you know." he said somewhat smugly, turning his eyes upon Holly.

"We know.. but I'm here to make it easier." she replied, with the same tone in her voice.

He smiled. Actually smiled. "Foaly?" he asked. She nodded curtly and immediatley, she filled all three of them into the plan.

She raced them to the expensive elevator pod, shooing them in. "Just wait there, I'll be back." They all flashed the 'ok' signal at them, and she left back to the OP booth, where Foaly was dramatically expressing Artemis's escape.

Foaly was a master of computers. He had gathered up all of his past videos of Artemis, and made a great video of an Artemis escaping his room and saving Butler and Juliet. Everyone was panicking in his room, and Holly was easily able to slip in unnoticed.

Root's face was red with fury. "SHORT! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!"

She could barely keep a straight face. "Around here, sir. It's not a surprise you didn't notice me."

"I DON'T CARE! GET UP THERE AND CHASE AFTER THEM!

"Well, I most likely won't be able to, you know. They're pretty far ahead in that piece of junk." Root opened his mouth. "But I'll do it anyway.. couldn't hurt to try!"

Now was the time when everything counted.

Holly zipped to her pod. There, the next flare was coming fast. She strapped herself tightly. "Use your seatbelts, you'll need them." she instructed her passengers- Artemis, Butler, and Juliet.

She left the building and waited. Here it comes.

It hit her fast, and she was ready, being flung through layer by layer of searing magma. Now Foaly had to make sure she _didn't_ catch that empty pod. Now she just had to pull off some tricks. Never hurts to wow the crowd!

Butler's stomach lurched. What did he do to deserve this?

Juliet felt like she was going to throw up. _Crap, _she thought. _I hate roller coasters._ She hadn't eaten anything that morning, so she should be fine. The pod twisted around and she felt sick. Really sick.

Artemis had an unreadable face as usual, but on the inside, he felt like Juliet. Why did Holly have to twist around like that?

Foaly was happy. It was so easy. The whole building was in his room, all staring as the two pods were trying to outrun eachother. Noone noticed that under his desk he was actually controlling the pod that Holly wasn't in. People were so gullible these days.

A crack of light appeared in Holly's window. She grinned. Now, it was over. The LEP would think she was chasing them back to Fowl Manor, and then couldn't come in uninvited. But she was really dropping the Mud People off.

Artemis and the Butlers followed Holly out to a shuttle. Juliet immediatley went to the nearest bush. Foaly really had a good plan. This was simple. Artemis wouldn't admit it anytime soon, but he was thankful that Holly had helped them. He didn't really know if he could have got out anytime soon without her.

Time flew, and soon they were at Fowl Manor. Juliet and Butler raced into the house, eager to continue their daily plan.

Artemis stayed behind. What should he say to her? Here he was, back with this old dilemma. He took a deep breath, and started talking.

"Holly... I have to thank you." He said this with his back turned to her. "I really don't think I could have made it without you."

She smiled. Her hand reached out and turned him towards her. Seeing those eyes again, she wanted to cry.

"I guess you really have changed.." she said softly. "You are most definetly welcome." With those last words, she turned back to her shuttle and took off.

Artemis smiled back at her, though she was gone. Now he had to go inside and clear things up with Mulch.. he was going to go straight.

THE END

**I hope I got everything right-- I wasn't sure about the elevator-flare thing so I read the books again. Didn't clear things up. I had to improvise. I thought at first Juliet was a little OOC.. tell me your comments! I was going to write a romance, but then I decided it would work better as just friendship. Woohoo! This took me two days!**


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